Sars-Kilmallock Preview

posted 9 Nov 2010, 10:28 by Unknown user

In sport, regardless of previous achievements, there’s always a new
challenge to be conquered, a new peak to be scaled. For champions,
Sarsfields, that new frontier is the Munster and All Ireland club
championship. They’ve never won Munster, never even got to the final.
Now after putting county titles back-to-back their ambition surely has
to extend beyond the county boundary.

However, it’s an ambition
that faces a tricky opener on Sunday next when they go to Kilmallock for
a semi-final clash with the locals. Given their high-profile names
Sarsfields will go in as favourites but will do very well to bring home a
win from a venue that hasn’t been kind to Tipperary teams in the past.

Elsewhere,
after all the speculation and name-dropping, a new management, it
seems, is finally to be announced this week. Declan Ryan takes the baton
from Liam Sheedy as he did at minor level in the fall of ’06. Tommy
Dunne and Michael Gleeson complete the new cabinet, one that will carry
our best wishes at a time of great optimism in the county.

First
to that club fixture at Kilmallock, which Sarsfields will hope is a
stepping stone to Munster progress. They’ll be seeking to qualify for a
first ever Munster final appearance, which is quite a surprising
statistic for such a famed club. Five previous attempts have fallen
short, the most recent being twelve months ago when Newtownshandrum came
to the Cathedral town and took home a one-point win. Sarsfields could
have won that day - at the very least should have drawn it - but their
record in this competition is poor.

In ’05 it was again Newtown’
who dumped them out of the reckoning down at Pairc Ui Chaoimh after
they’d beaten Lixnaw in an opening bout. Tracking back the years their
previous outing in this championship was in 1974. That year they again
had a bye to the semi-final but bowed to Newmarket-on-Fergus in an
‘away’ game.

Interestingly Sarsfields have never won an ‘away’
game in the Munster club championship. The end of the club’s golden era
coincided with the inauguration of this competition. 1964 was the first
year of the series. Sarsfields as champions beat Cappamore at Cashel in a
first round but fell to Mount Sion down in Waterford in the semi-final.
The following year they were ‘away’ again to Limerick champions, this
time Patrickswell, and once more they were beaten, hammered in fact by
5-13 to 4-4.

Can the class of 2010 fare better? For sure more is
expected of them given the fact that they’ve put county titles
back-to-back for the first time since 1965. Winning an isolated county
title is often an end in itself but when you put a few together then you
should be raising the bar to the next level. Besides, having four All
Ireland medallists from last September gives the team an added status,
with the consequent raised expectations.

Yet it won’t be easy
against the champions of Limerick, a team that has already travelled
‘away’ to Clare where they defeated Crusheen in a first round. On home
turf where they’ll enjoy majority backing in a tight arena will make it
very difficult for Sarsfields to progress.

It’s a relatively young
Kilmallock side with an average age in the low twenties. For Tipperary
followers some of them will be familiar names because of their
involvement with Limerick. Centre back, Gavin O’Mahoney, is a key cog in
the overall machine, hugely impressive in the county final, it seems,
and also against Crusheen. Flanking him will be Brian O’Sullivan, a
member of Justin McCarthy’s alternative team last year, and Liam Walsh, a
nephew of Mike Galligan. It’s a strong half back line and a key plank
in their overall framework. Sarsfields could do with ‘Redser’ as a
counter-force in this area.

Kilmallock’s midfield is apparently
quite useful too. Both Eoin Ryan and Paudie O’Brien are seen as
attacking midfielders, players who are well capable of taking scores
from a distance – O’Brien scored three points in the county final. Their
clash with Alan Kennedy and Michael Gleeson should be interesting.

In
attack the familiar names are Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Paudie O’Dwyer and
Graham Mulcahy, though they also speak very highly of Jake Mulcahy,
Graham’s brother. Another big game from Padraic Maher could be very
influential here to counteract the threat.

In a sense Kilmallock
in Limerick mirror Sarsfields in Tipperary, both enjoying highly
successful underage structures and both with the potential to dominate
the senior grade in future years in their respective counties.
Sarsfields will this year be seeking a third county U21 title in a row
and they’ve already taken the minor – in fact they’ve won six of the
last twelve minor championships. Would you believe Sarsfields are on
course for something of a record year in Tipperary with U16, minor,
senior and junior ‘B’ titles already on the sideboard and, be assured,
the U21 will follow.

But their record over the past decade
actually pales beside Kilmallock’s. The Limerick club has won seven of
the last eight county minor championships in that county and four of the
last five U21s. That’s what you call monopoly hurling. Is it any wonder
Tony Considine saw potential in the club when he took on coaching
duties this year? Underage success wasn’t being carried through to
senior but the Clare man appears to have supplied the organisation and
discipline that has enable them to make the transfer.

The
venue has to be one of Sarsfields’ biggest worries. I’ve been searching
the recesses of the memory for happy days there and I can’t find them. I
recall our minors crashing there to a heavy defeat by Limerick in ’05.
Two games stand out from the Munster club series. In 1987 Cappawhite
played Midleton in the provincial final and lost agonisingly to a
last-minute John Fenton point from a ‘65’. I was there in 1983 too when
Borrisoleigh lost a replay to Midleton, not helped as I recall by some
very questionable refereeing. So it’s not the happiest of hunting
grounds for Tipperary teams, club or county.

Anyway let’s hope
Sarsfields put that one right on Sunday. They appealed Ger O’Grady’s
two-month ban but failed in their bid, so he’s effectively sidelined for
the Munster series. He’s a significant loss. In the tight confines of
Kilmallock he’d win useful ball there on the half line and in his
absence others will have to step up to the mark. I’ve no doubt if the
game was played in Semple Stadium Sarsfields would be comfortable
favourites but in Kilmallock the balance is shifted considerably. Even
back in the nineties teams like Toomevara, Midleton and Erins Own all
found Kilmallock a problem venue so this is going to be a tough one for
Sarsfields.

It’s also an important one for the club. All the
hot-shot teams like Portumna, Newtown’ and Ballyhale Shamrocks have made
their exit, so there’s an opening for a new force to emerge. Sarsfields
are viewed as a side with some potential in that regard but they’ve yet
to show they’re able for the rigours of Munster club hurling in
November. Anyway good luck to them.

So, it finally appears that a
new management dynasty is due to be unveiled this week. The worst kept
secret has been ‘out’ for some time with RTE in particular jumping the
gun through their announcement last week of Declan Ryan and Tommy Dunne
as the new men. Michael Gleeson it appears completes the line-up, which
is expected to be announced officially on Tuesday night at a County
Board meeting.

I must say the entire process is messy and we
really need to tidy up our recruitment system. To begin with a nine-man
committee to head-hunt prospective candidates is ludicrous. Trying to
maintain secrecy and confidentiality among such a diverse body of men is
virtually impossible. Every time we’re selecting a new management we go
through this crazy circus of leaks and rumours, everyone claiming to
have the inside track and with truths, half-truths and plain untruths
being spread about. It’s a chaotic way to tackle such an important job.
Surely a ‘tighter’ group of, say, three would do the business far more
efficiently.

Anyway it seems that the decision is made and should
be rubber-stamped on Tuesday night. After all the huffing and puffing
there wasn’t really much of a decision to be made because the field of
candidates was so limited. Once you eliminated the older generation you
were down to a very small group of prospective candidates. Ken Hogan
ruled himself out and in any case he was unlikely to top the list after
his previous spell in charge ended unsatisfactorily. Declan Carr’s U21
term, and in particular last year’s defeat to Waterford, probably took
him off the wish list too. Nicky English was never going to return.

So
when you looked for people with some track record at underage then
Declan and Tommy were the obvious ones unless you were going to pluck a
wild-card, someone unproven to take on the job. That surely would have
been too much of a gamble.

Inevitably the new men won’t meet with
universal approval, though I think the appointments will be welcomed
generally within the county. Their first year with the minors was hugely
successful when they took over seamlessly from Liam Sheedy and retained
the Irish Press Cup in 2007. The follow-up in ’08 was disappointing,
with some talk of differences emerging between Declan and Tommy. Last
year’s negotiations for Declan to take charge of the U21s broke down
too, so it wasn’t automatic that he’d be the top choice of everyone.

The
appointments certainly fit the formula that has been the model in this
county in recent times with Declan as overall manager and Tommy as the
hands-on coach. Michael Gleeson is seen as a quite and steady
personality in the background who was there during the minor years and
of course has spearheaded Sarsfields emergence as our top club. Some
might have misgivings about Tommy Dunne’s involvement while Benny is
still a panellist. Mind you on present form Michael Gleeson’s son might
come into the frame too when a new panel is assembled.

Anyway my
admiration for the new men is hardly a secret so all I can do here is
wish them well. Taking over All Ireland champions isn’t easy and will
take careful handling to make sure the progress of recent years isn’t
undone. Continuity should be their byword. Declan played with some of
the older players on the panel and managed several of the younger ones
during their minor days so he should be well placed to continue Sheedy’s
work. They carry all our hopes for continued success.

P.S. I’m
assuming these appointments will be made on Tuesday night, twenty-four
hours too late for inclusion here. Assumption is all I can go on in the
absence of anything ‘official’ coming my way by late Monday night.